Abraham Lincoln

Born: February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky
Died: April 15, 1865 in Washington D.C.
Republican Party
First Term: 1861-1865
Second Term: 1865-1865
First Term Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin
Second Term Vice President: Andrew Johnson
Theme: Demographics
Grade: A

THESIS
Abraham Lincoln is one of the most popular presidents of all time. During his presidency, Lincoln had nothing but good things to provide our nation. The biggest thing Honest Abe was able to achieve was ending the civil war and the problems linked within it. Because of this major accomplishment, Abraham Lincoln deserves an A for his term(s) as president.
THEME
Throughout Lincoln's presidency, the demographics of the United States changed tremendously. The civil war was the main cause of this. Throughout the entire war, over 600,000 men lost their lives in battle. This is one way that the civil war changed some of our nation's demographics. Also during the civil war, the immigration numbers changed at various times. Before the war, the immigration total was 153,640. But then the war started and the totals dropped to 91,918. Later in the civil war years, numbers began to increase again because the fighting was coming to an end. Infact, in 1866, the number of immigrants were more than double of what they were five years previous. So after looking at Lincoln's terms as president, the elements and contributions to the demographics of this country changed off and on.
GOALS
In Lincoln's first innaugural address, he was very clear in stating that our nation needs to stay united as a whole. Separation amongst our country was not an option in Lincoln's opinion. Though during the civil war, our nation split between the north and the south, the end result had us compromising and forming together. I would have to say that Lincoln was very successful at achieving this goal. There may have been some bumps ( Big Bumps) in the road, but in the end, pulled things together. Later in Lincoln's second innaugural address, he wanted to make sure that society realized the importance of the past war and that we should learn from it. Unfortunately, Abe didn't get to complete his second term as president due to his assassination. I feel that our country did follow Lincoln's advice in remembering and learning from the civil war and although Lincoln wasn't there to see this happen, it did. In a sense, his second term goals were accomplished. When it is all said and done, Abe Lincoln followed through with the goals that he set.
RELATIONSHIP WITH CONGRESS
Lincoln's relationship with congress was very good. Part of the reason for this is because majority of congress was made up of Republicans, like Lincoln. This provided much agreement amongst our president and congress. Important documents such as the Emancipation Proclamation and the Homestead Act of 1862 were products of a good relationship. Honest Abe even made sure things were fair in congress by creating the Morill Act. This allowed proportionate representation in Congress. A good relationship is clearly represented here.
ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
By far, a very positive action that Lincoln and his admnisistration had was the Emancipation Proclamation. This order announced the freedom for 75% of all slaves in our nation as well as immediately setting 50,000 of the slaves free. As a result, this was a big move for the abolitionist cause and contributed many things for the civl war. As for a negative action by Lincoln and his administration, Abe suspended Habeas Corpus which led to thousand of society members to get arrested and held without reason or trial. In the end though, Lincoln and his administration had good move after good move.
FUTURE IMPACT
The obvious thing that Abe Lincoln achieved which influeced future America was the win in the Civil War. This allowed for Americans to realize the bad of slavery and have it be prevented for the future. If the Union didn't win, who knows where our country would be today? We might be in a nation where slavery is still acceptable. So by Lincoln leading the Union to a victory in the civil war, it shaped the way America would be in the future.
CONCLUSION
In the end, the United States of America were able to be united because of Abraham Lincoln's presidency. We were definitely better having him lead our nation. With virtually nothing but good things coming from his terms as president, he rightfully deserves his A. The goals he set were met, he helped the Union win the civil war, and let's face it, no one could pull off a stovepipe hat like he did. It's a shame we weren't able to experience two full terms from him. We can only imagine what more greatness Lincoln could have brought our country.

Works Cited
DeGregorio, William A. "Abraham Lincoln." The Complete Book of US Presidents: From George Washington to Bill Clinton. New York: Wing, 1997. 224-243. Print.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print